Articles from the July 2, 2026 edition


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  • Petersburg's Abbey Jackson swims the English Channel

    Orin Pierson, Pilot writer|Jul 2, 2026

    Abbey Jackson Ferree, from Petersburg now living in Fairbanks, swam solo across the English Channel on June 21, crossing from England to France - around 40 miles in 14 hours and 23 minutes. The swim is Abbey's second leg of the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, following her completion last August of the 28.5-mile 20 Bridges Swim around Manhattan Island. A third event - the Catalina Channel, off Southern California, which she has a window to attempt in September - would complete the set, a...

  • Summer Dungeness season cut short as harvest estimate hits lowest mark in decades

    Orin Pierson|Jul 2, 2026

    Southeast Alaska's summer commercial Dungeness crab season will close three weeks early, after Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Dungeness harvest estimate came in the lowest in at least 25 years. ADF&G announced Monday, June 29, that the 2026/27 summer season will close at 11:59 p.m. Saturday, July 25, after allowing a total of 40 days of fishing. Crab gear must be removed from the water entirely by 11:59 p.m. Aug. 1, though pots may be stored in closed waters for up to seven days if all...

  • Alaska Supreme Court rules Dan J. Sullivan eligible to run for US Senate

    Corinne Smith|Jul 2, 2026

    The Alaska Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Alaska Division of Elections to include Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg on the primary ballot as a candidate for U.S. Senate. The ruling upholding a lower court’s decision came just hours after oral arguments in a fast-tracked case ahead of the division’s deadline to certify and print primary election ballots at noon on Tuesday. A full opinion on the case will be issued at a later date, the court said. The decision ends a weekslong saga between the state and the challenger with the same name Republic...

  • Yesterday's News: News from 25-50-75-100 years ago

    Jul 2, 2026

    June 25 , 1926 – At Wednesday’s Commercial Club meeting strong opposition to taking any action toward making Sandy Beach a city park was expressed. Some of the members felt that the place was spoiled for picnics or outings now on account of the number of private houses going up out there. Although the city had staked the beach out for a park, it was said that those building houses out there were entitled to the property they improved, by squatter’s rights. June 29, 1951 – Despite all the publicity Alaska has had in recent months, there are appa...

  • Petersburg slated for three-day Fourth of July weekend

    Caleb Morrow|Jul 2, 2026

    Petersburg's Fourth of July weekend schedule has been released for an eventful three days in the town–the traditional two-day local holiday celebration on the 3rd and the 4th and with an additional third day celebration on Sunday, July 5th featuring a community potluck to celebrate America's 250th birthday. Parks and Rec facility supervisor Julie Anderson, Chamber of Commerce Director Kelli Slaven, and Robyn Cardenas took the lead on planning this year's celebrations. July 3 It all begins w...

  • Guest Editorial

    Larry Persily, Wrangell Sentinel publisher|Jul 2, 2026

    I’m sorry to say this column is about taxes. Oil and gas taxes. Corporate taxes. Legislative debate over taxes. If you want to read about the World Cup or salmon fishing or summer recipes for the best potato salad, this is not your cup of iced tea. But what better to talk about on the week of the nation’s birth than taxes, one of the major gripes of the colonies against England. In the week before the nation’s 250th birthday, the Alaska Legislature is embroiled in its own debate over taxes. It has nothing to do with tea and everything to do wi...

  • Commentary:

    Wally McDonald|Jul 2, 2026

    I think the general perception of our nation’s founders is of a grouping of bespectacled, white-haired old men speaking an antique language that sounds almost foreign to our modern ears. In fact, Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of our Declaration of Independence, was a youthful 33 years old when he drafted the document in 1776. John Hancock, the president of the Continental Congress that approved it, was 39 when he applied his flamboyant signature as the first to sign it. The original document, its words inscribed with a quill pen in e...

  • Police report

    Jul 2, 2026

    June 24 – An officer conducted a welfare check on Hungerford Hill Rd. Emergency Medical Service (EMS) was contacted and responded. There was a report of a dead deer in the roadway on Mitkof Hwy. The person granted permission to salvage the meat found the deer gone upon their arrival. An officer responded to a health and safety report but was unable to locate the described individual. An officer assisted a citizen. An officer assisted the Petersburg Volunteer Fire Department (PVFD) on Sing Lee Alley. There was a post event report of a youth losi...

  • Two interactive cameras installed atop Five Finger Lighthouse

    Caleb Morrow|Jul 2, 2026
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    Two high-quality interactive web cameras have recently been installed atop Five Finger Lighthouse – one of the world's most renowned humpback whale watching locations. The Five Finger Lighthouse Society (FFLS) installed a similar camera earlier this year at the lower boathouse level. Now, there are two more atop the lighthouse – one facing north, one south. The FFLS is a Petersburg-based non-profit organization. All summer, the lighthouse is maintained by volunteer keepers, who stay in the lig...

  • Low loads and mild weather hold down diesel use during SEAPA shutdown

    Orin Pierson|Jul 2, 2026

    Petersburg burned notably less diesel than usual during this month’s annual Southeast Alaska Power Agency maintenance shutdown, as mild weather, low industrial demand and customer conservation combined to ease the borough’s reliance on its backup generators even as fuel prices spiked, the borough’s utility directors said. With SEAPA’s hydroelectric feed offline, Petersburg Municipal Power and Light ran on diesel generation and the Blind Slough hydro plant. Outgoing Utility Director Karl Hagerman said the utility budgets for 10 days of diesel ru...

  • Ketchikan shipyard wins $99.6 million NOAA project

    Scott Bowlen, Ketchikan Daily News|Jul 2, 2026

    JAG Ketchikan LLC, which began operating the state-owned Ketchikan Shipyard in September, has secured a nearly $100 million contract for a service-life extension project involving a federal research vessel. The $99.6 million contract from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for its Rhode Island based fisheries survey ship Henry B. Bigelow has a start time of June 6 for procurement of long lead-time materials and an estimated completion date of April 14, 2029, according to information from NOAA and the Alaska Industrial...

  • Soaking in the Stikine

    Jul 2, 2026